Dancing and the Dreaming
by Dragon Elexus
Summary: Pearl's not entirely sure how she ended up there, mask on her face, twirling in the arms of a beautiful stranger- but she's not going to let the opportunity go to waste. (For the prompt- Pearl/Rose: meeting at a masquerade ball au.)


**Dancing and the Dreaming**

Pearl was still not entirely certain how this had all happened.

It was true that she had been preparing for the ball for weeks- but not in the same way as all the elegant guests around her. While they had been having outfits tailored, their hair styled, and arranging for limousines, _she'd_ been organising the tables, ordering the flower arrangements, and fighting down stress migraines. By the time of the event had finally arrived, Pearl couldn't remember the last time she had slept, and she was moving through her duties in a dream-like daze.

As far as she was concerned, she might have _actually_ fallen asleep from exhaustion. That seemed to be the only explanation for why a pair of two finely dressed young ladies had ambushed her in one of the halls, pulled her into an alcove, and before she could even protest, started stringing a necklace around her neck.

"I- _what_?" Pearl stuttered, too surprised to do anything else.

"Stop wiggling," one of the two strangers said from behind her, the one wearing a handsome red tuxedo. From the feel of it, she was standing on tip-toe, trying to get the necklace around Pearl's neck. "This clasp is _really_ finicky."

The other one, decked in a gorgeous blue dress, was pulling a long turquoise scarf from out of her purse. Without saying a word, she pulled it around Pearl's waist and began to tie it in an elaborate bow at the hip.

Pearl managed to get a hold of herself. "What exactly is _going on_?" she demanded.

The pair paused, and seemed to exchange glances (though they were wearing masks, so it was hard to tell). "We're dressing you up," the one in blue said, as if it should be obvious.

"I- yes, I can _tell_ , but why?"

There was a small snap as the necklace's clasp finally came together. Instead of answering her, Tuxedo just said, "Ah, there we go."

Pearl glanced down at her neck. A perfect white sphere hung there from a silver chain. She felt a little like choking. "Is this a pearl?" she asked. "An _actual_ pearl necklace?!"

Pearl was beginning to suspect this was some elaborate prank. She stared around, as if hoping to find some hidden cameras. As far as she could tell, there were none.

"Yes," Blue Dress said simply, "Like your name."

"How do you know what my name is?"

"Don't sweat it. Sapphire just knows things like that," Tuxedo said, stepping out to the front, hands in her pockets. Then she said, in a mock whisper, " _She's psychic_."

Yep. Definitely a prank. Had to be.

But no cameras had come out yet, and Pearl had never heard of a prank so baffling. "Why are you doing this?"

"We're giving you a night off," Blue Dress- 'Sapphire'- said.

"You can't just _give_ me a 'night off'," Pearl protested. "I have an actual job to do-"

"What, serving food?" asked Tuxedo. "Look, take an hour, at least. Do you really think anyone's going to notice if there's one less person walking around, handing out mini-quiches?"

 _My manager might_ , some part of Pearl pointed out, but the words didn't quite manage to reach her mouth. This was partly because, at that very moment, Sapphire pulled something else out of her purse.

It was a mask. An absolutely gorgeous mask. Shaped like a bird's face, the nose a beak, plumes of beautiful white and blue feathers framing the eyes. It seemed to glitter. Without thinking, Pearl felt herself reaching for it.

The stranger let her take it; let her put it on her face. It fit perfectly.

"Looks good," Tuxedo said. Her partner nodded.

Then each of them took one of her hands, and gently began to lead her towards the ballroom.

Pearl let herself be pulled along, too overwhelmed to resist. But when they arrived at the grande doors, she still asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Sapphire smiled at her for the first time, and said, "You'll see."

Then, as quickly as they arrived, the mysterious pair seemed to vanish into the crowd. Pearl blinked at the place they'd been, stunned. Then, figuring that she might as well, stepped into the crowd herself.

Pearl had seen such fine events many times before, but now, it was different. Always, she'd been an outsider- there carrying trays or cleaning spills, but now, she was a part of it. Beneath the necklace and the sash and mask, nobody seemed to notice that the clothing she wore, nice as it was, was identical to all the servers'. From beneath their own animal-faces they smiled at her, complimented her hair or her outfit, offered her drinks, suggested a dance.

She blushed at the compliments, but politely declined both the drinks and the dances. That, she felt, would be overstepping her bounds, somehow.

Then, her eyes caught on the most magnificent figure from across the room.

She wasn't just tall- she _towered_. Like everyone, her face was hidden behind a mask. Her's was a lion, strong and regal. It was a lioness, no actual mane, but she seemed to have one anyway, thanks to her glorious mass of pink curls, which cascaded behind her like a waterfall, trailing into the brilliant white of her ballgown. Pink droplets-possibly true diamonds- glittered at her ears, catching the light, but she hardly needed them to catch attention. She seemed to demand attention, simply by being there.

And then, suddenly, she seemed to be right in front of Pearl, offering a hand and saying, "Could I have this next dance?"

Pearl hardly even hesitated.

That first dance was a blur- of spinning, twirling, dipping, utterly dizzying, but utterly wonderful. She had forgotten how much she missed this, the dancing, the sheer ease of it–

But it wasn't _just_ the dancing, it was her partner. The two of them seemed to move in natural harmony, perfectly synchronised. The lioness knew the steps to the music well; her feet and hands were always in the right place, to perfectly guide her dance partner into the next move-

\- and then the next song, and the next, dancing until both of them were too winded to dance anymore.

After the next song ended, the pair of them left the dance floor. Pearl stood there, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from her face. "Well," she breathed.

"Are you okay?" the Lioness worried.

"Oh, yes, fine, fine," Pearl said. And she was, honestly- she just hadn't realized how out of shape, and out of _practice_ , she'd gotten. There was a time where she could have continued to dance like that for hours.

The Lioness still seemed worried, however, and grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing server for her. Pearl took it without protest. She was suddenly aware of how horribly dry her throat felt. She took several too-long sips, the drink burning pleasantly.

"Better?"

"Yes," Pearl said, feeling light-headed, and not because of the alcohol. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," the mysterious woman said. "Those were some of the best dances I've had in my entire life. Are you a professional?"

Pearl felt herself blushing. "Oh, no, no, nothing like that, no," she said. "I mean- I did attend dance school, but that was years ago-"

The lady frowned. "You _wer_ e? But you're so talented, why ever did you stop?"

Pearl shrugged. "Oh, you know," she said, forgetting that a woman rich enough to actually attend an event like this probably wouldn't. "Dancing isn't exactly the the most… _stable_ , career. I had a scholarship, but it didn't cover expenses like rent or food, let alone equipment-"

Pearl stopped mid-sentence. Partly, it was the realization that she shouldn't just be dumping her entire life history with a complete stranger she'd done nothing but share a couple of dances with. Partly, it was sudden recollection of her financial situation, reminding her that she really couldn't afford to just chat the night away.

"I've really got to be going-"

Even with only the bottom of her face showing, the stranger looked flabbergasted. "What, already? But we were having such a nice time."

"I- yes, yes we were, but I've really got to go, I have work to do-"

The Lioness laughed, though she didn't sound happy. "But it's not even midnight yet, Cinderella."

"Look, you don't understand," Pearl said, looking past the mask to stare the stranger in the eyes. "I- I'm not actually a guest here. I'm just staff. See my uniform? It's hard to explain- but some people, they got me all dressed up and told me to go dancing, but I really have to get to work, or I could be fired."

The lady frowned. "I see," she said. She muttered something under her breath- Pearl didn't quite catch it, but it sounded vaguely as though it might include the name ' _Sapphire_ '. Then she smiled a dazzling smile. "Well," she said, "If you _do_ work here, that shouldn't be a problem. It means, after all, that you're _technically_ my employee. So it should be quite easy to give you the night off."

In the crowded ball room, surrounded by dancers, it seemed to Pearl that world froze.

" _What_?"

The woman smiled, pretending to misunderstand her confusion. "Yes. I'll just contact the head of staff tomorrow morning. Quite simple."

Pearl stared. "You're joking," she said. "Are you telling me, _that you're Rose Quartz?_ As in, billionaire CEO, owner of this entire building, Rose Quartz."

"Well," the woman said, with such pure amusement put into that single word. "I believe it's a faux pas to reveal such things at a masquerade, but yes. Yes, I am.

"So," Rose Quartz continued, "do I get to know _your_ name?"

Pearl opened her mouth, closed it, then said, "It's Pearl."

"Pleasure to meet you, Pearl. Now, would you care for another dance?"


End file.
